


Mother of Pearl

by Marantis



Series: Xions Adventures [3]
Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Best Friends, Budding Relationship, Canon-Typical Violence, F/F, Feelings, Gen, Handholding, Hurt/Comfort, I think this qualifies anyway, Insecurity, Keyblades, Lots of Crying, Mysterious Tower, Neverland, Post KH III, Sea Salt Ice Cream (Kingdom Hearts), Sunsets, The Unversed (Kingdom Hearts), Trauma, Twilight Town, but also laughing, floods, so many Floods
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-07
Updated: 2019-03-12
Packaged: 2019-11-13 14:04:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,095
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18033134
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Marantis/pseuds/Marantis
Summary: The Seasalt Trio is sent on a mission to Neverland. They find more than the bit of trouble they had expected.And that is just the start.





	1. Neverland

**Author's Note:**

> So this was meant as another oneshot but I suppose it turned into a threeshot. I've got it all written and will add the other chapters later.  
> Again many thanks to my good friend Malte who read over it again and didn't even really complain when I accidentally woke him up in the middle of the night. You are a treasure.  
> Not all tags apply for all the chapters, so if something isn't there in the first chapter it will come up later.  
> Please enjoy!

„I bet it’s that damn pirate“, muttered Roxas. They were currently trudging through a tropical forest situated on one of the islands that dotted Neverland. There had been rumours about strange phenomena that could be caused by a surge of darkness.

Thus Xion, Roxas and Axel had been sent out to investigate. They had taken a Gummi Ship, Roxas proving somewhat of a natural in handling it. Even though they had been outfitted with armour like that of Terra, Aqua and Ventus, any of the trio had yet to succeed in transforming their keyblade into a glider. Axel hadn’t been a keybladewielder for long and even with the training he had done with Kairi, he was far away from having mastered his. Roxas who had been at it for much longer and had managed the quite impressive feat of summoning two keyblades at once in a stable manner, was struggling exactly because of that. He not only had to transform one keyblade but find a way to combine two on top of that. All quips from Axels side in the manner of ‘Why not go just for one at a time?’ were met with a resolute no from Roxas. But actually it was Xion, who was struggling the most. Not that she had told her best friends about why exactly. Since she came back and reunited with the rest of the guardians of light she had trouble manifesting her keyblade. It came when she summoned it but just as often as not it flickered out of existence shortly after.

A paranoid voice insider her head kept whispering that this was history repeating itself and just further prove that she wasn’t supposed to exist. Xion did her very best to squash that voice. When it got too loud at times, she sought out Naminé. Somehow it was easier to talk to her about that specific problem. Probably because Naminé stayed calm and collected, silently waiting until Xion was finished relaying her fears before offering advice and reassurance. Roxas and Axel however would probably overreact in some manner. After all they had seen it happen before and they both proved that they could be hot headed and quite short sighted at times. Xion rather not wanted to deal with them overreacting and doing something ridiculous.

“The one that shot cannonballs at you?” asked Axel a mischievous grin on his face. A smile spread on Xions face as well. She too vividly remembered that day on top of the clock tower Roxas regaled them with that specific tale.

“Exactly that one! He’s a magnet for heartless.” One of the hands Roxas used to gesticulate connected with parts of the foliage eliciting angry unintelligible muttering from him.

“Hopefully we find that fairy soon, before Roxas starts a fight with the whole forest.” Axel looked over his shoulder at Xion so she could see his wink.

“I heard that you know” grumbled Roxas from the front his arms now crossed over his chest. Xion laughed, soon joined by her friends. It still felt unreal sometimes in moments like these when they laughed together and all worries she may have had were elevated, if just for a moment.

They finally broke free of the foliage surrounding them now standing in front of a small lagoon. Xion couldn’t help but take a step closer to the glistening surface of the body of water. It was fed by a waterfall that cascaded down from a ledge farther up. Droplets formed a rainbow in the air before it. The water was crystal clear and Xion could make out colourful plant life and there were small golden bits scattered that glinted enticingly.

Axel stepped next to her and surveyed the sandy bottom of the small lake. “See any fairies or wisps of darkness down there?” Xion didn’t look over but she knew he was wearing that teasing smirk of his.

“No” she said with a fond chuckle and then shoved him lightly. Axel stumbled over exaggeratingly and put a hand to his chest, but before he could say anything Roxas called for their attention.

“Hey guys, I think I saw a shadow move over there.” When the two friends turned Roxas was pointing back between the trees where a small path wound between thick trunks.

Xion and Axel joined Roxas and together they ventured down the path, eyes peeled for the slightest movement in the shadows cast by leaves and branches. While walking she couldn’t shake the feeling of being watched. It felt like invisible tendrils brushing over her skin making her hair stand on end. But every time she tried to locate the source of the sensation there was nothing. No eyes peeking out between the foliage of the forest. Another thing that set her on edge was the fact that they hadn’t seen a single living soul since they had set foot in the world. No fairy, no pirates, none of the other inhabitants not even a bird tweeting from some hidden branch.

They finally reached another opening in the trees. It was a clearing and in its centre stood a massive tree. This clearing too looked deserted except for a dark figure leaning motionless against the tree trunk. “Is that-”, Roxas didn’t finish as they were already scrambling towards the still body. He was still wearing the suit he had been wearing at the Keyblade Graveyard but the black mask was cracked revealing half of his face. 

“It’s freaky how he looks so much like Sora” mumbled Axel. Xion shrugged. In her opinion Vanitas looking like Sora was just as weird as her looking like Kairi.

“You think he’s the reason for the rumours?” asked Roxas who had his arms crossed and his eyes concentrated on the visible part of Vanitas face.  
“It’s likely but we should take him back to the tower either way.” At Xions words Roxas pulled a distressed face. He was probably the reception their arrival would have with Vanitas in tow.

But before they could reach a definite decision blotches of shadow swarmed outwards from the sitting figure and began racing towards the trio. The three friends scattered in different directions, each followed by a few blots of darkness.

Once she reached the treeline Xion turned to face the blots summoning Kingdom Key into her hand. While she had her back turned more and bigger creatures had appeared, while from the moving shadows small jittery beings had sprung up. Unversed. That’s what they were called. While she hadn’t spent much time as part of the true Organization she had caught sight of them at times. Her eyes drew towards the leaning figure for a second before having to snap back to the immediate threat that was the small creatures known as Floods lunging at her.

She dispatched of them easily, they were similar enough to Shadows and thus no big deal. However the second wave was made up of a variety of smaller forms that each had unique ways of attacking. Xion dodged limbs, cutting through attackers and evaded thrown razor sharps leaves before retaliating with a few well aimed spells.

Out of the corner of her eyes she could see her friends doing the same, Roxas resembling a whirlwind of sharp edges and Axel leaving trails of smoke and burned earth behind.

Xion was just about to block the oncoming attack of a burly Unversed, when her keyblade flickered and vanished a second later. Frantically she tried to resummon Kingdom Key, but to no avail. With a yelp of surprise Xion barely got her arms raised to block the blow and was thrown several feet backwards, skidding to a halt before the treeline.

She heard her friends yell her name, but both were busy dealing with enemies of their own. She dragged herself upwards just in time to roll out of the way of an oncoming charge attack but was dragged down again by a Flood that was joined a second later by several more of its kind. Meanwhile the big guy came towards her already preparing for a second charge. The yells of her friends grew more frantic but both of them were too far away to be in time to help her.

She was bleeding from several small cuts and the Floods were bearing down on her keeping her pinned to the forest ground. Tears sprung into Xions eyes. No! This couldn’t be it! She had just gotten her existence and her friends back. She wasn’t willing to say goodbye to that yet. An anguished scream tore free from her throat. She managed to throw the Floods from one of her arms, beating the ones off her other with a bare fist, pure desperation fuelling her movements. She refused to give up! She wouldn’t let these Unversed separate her from her friends again. She would not let them take away the life she just gained. This time when she reached out to her keyblade it came. The Floods were blasted away from her, fizzling out of existence in mid-flight. The big Unversed that was still barrelling towards her met the same end through a clean cut down the middle.

And then it was over. No new wave of Unversed came. Xion sunk down to her knees tears still streaming down her cheeks but now caused by relief. Her friends scrambled over to her Roxas already casting a Cure while he ran. Axel reached her first and sunk down next to her frantically patting her down to assess the damage that was gone a second later as the green light of the magic enveloped her healing all the cuts scrapes and bruises.

“Shit, Xion don’t scare us like that!” When she looked up into Axels face she could see the tears pooling in his eyes but there also was a smile of relief. Xion smiled back at him, still a bit shaky.

“I’m sorry for giving you such a fright” Xion apologized and wiped away the tear streaks on her cheeks.

“You better be” Roxas said accusingly. The stern expression on his face holding up all of two seconds before crumbling into a relieved smile as well. Then he threw his arms around Xions shoulders. A second later his arms were joined by Axels all of them clutching to each other like they had that day at the Keyblade Graveyard.

When they let her go Xion finally caught a glance of the keblade that lay next to her. She did a double take because the keyblade lying there wasn’t Kingdom Key. She took it by the grip that resembled a wooden stick and brought it up for closer examination. There were vines sprouting from the end of the grip winding around to form guards. From those vines sprouted several flowers. Both the flowers and the vines looked like they were made from glass. The petals tipped with blue and red hues. The blade was spiralled like a shell and ended in sharp edged teeth that had an iridescent gleam to them. On the woven chain dangled a singular red and yellow Thalassa Shell.

She vanished the keyblade and looked up at her friends who both had been staring at where she had held it aloft. Then a gigantic smile spread across Roxas’ face. “Congratulations for summoning your keyblade!” He sounded really excited. Xion started to smile as well it was tinged a bit in disbelief. She had her own unique keyblade. This was indisputable proof that she wasn’t just a copy of someone else.

A hand tousled through her hair and as she batted it away Axel laughed. “Welcome to the club of big keybladewielders.” Xion huffed a laugh at her friends antics. Then her gaze fell on the still figure by the tree trunk. Her friends followed her eyes.

“Time to get this guy home huh?” Axel rubbed his hand through the hair on the back of his head.

“Well we can’t leave him here, that’s for sure” Roxas said and started in the direction of the motionless body. Xion and Axel followed after him.

Axel bent down and slung the boy over his shoulder with a slight ‘oof’. “Sheesh this guy weighs a ton. Who knew a heart of darkness weighed this heavy?” This startled surprised laughter from his two friends.

 

On their walk back through the jungle Roxas suddenly said: “Wait this means we’re not gonna get ice cream before going back to the tower!” Xions face instantly fell in dejection.

Axel looked back at his two friends and burst out laughing which earned him a narrowed eyes of betrayal from both of them. “Nah, we’ll just dump this package back at the tower”, here he patted the unconscious form of Vanitas on the back, “and then get ice cream. After all we have to celebrate Xion getting her keyblade.” That proposition got instant approval in form of cheers from the other two.

“We could bring Naminé”, suggested Xion.

“Sure”, Roxas agreed readily and pointed a sly look at Xion.

“Then let’s put on some speed already. This guy’s getting heavier by the minute.”


	2. Sunset Celebration

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is sort of an interlude, but I really wanted to write that Clock Tower scene and had a lot of fun doing it. To be honest Naminé and Xion was a pairing that totally blindsided me after KH III, twelve year old me certainly would never have guessed I'd be writing fanfiction for those two.  
> Please enjoy the chapter!

Xion was currently sitting on top of the Clock Tower with Naminé who was filling a sketchbook page with warm coloured lines. Next to them lay an assortment of popsicle sticks, the blue ice cream long gone. Roxas and Axel had taken their leave shortly before, the former wanting to show his friend some tricks he could do with a skateboard.

Xion was enjoying the quiet moment with Naminés calming presence next to her and the warm sunbeams of one of Twilight Towns famous sunsets warming her face. “What are your thoughts about Vanitas?” broke Naminés gentle voice through the comfortable silence.

Xion leaned back on her hands to get a better view of her friend. Vanitas had certainly been on her mind since they had found him earlier in Neverland. He hadn’t gained consciousness as of the time they had handed him over to the cautiously mistrustful Terra and Aqua and a quite elated Ventus. “I guess it doesn’t surprise me that he’s back. As long as Ven is there he’ll probably keep showing up.”

Naminé hummed in agreement. “Honestly, I’m glad Riku isn’t here currently. Seeing Vanitas probably would have caused quite a bit of grievance for him.” The girls were silent for a moment, contemplating what Rikus reaction would have been like.

“You think he will try to go after Ven again?” asked Xion eyes on the sketch of Twilight Towns skyline Naminé had done.

Naminé paused in her drawing to chew on the end of her pencil. “I hope not but I don’t know if he can accept being his own person. It could be because he’s afraid of being alone.” She paused and then quickly added: “Maybe I’m projecting.” Naminé cast her eyes downwards.

Xion reached out her hand to rest it atop of Naminés giving it a gentle squeeze. “Well you don’t ever have to be alone again.” Naminé met her gaze and a gentle smile spread across her face, making her eyes shine. “And neither does Vanitas. Ven certainly won’t give up on him and if anyone understands what it’s like to be manipulated and used for their power then it’s us” Xion said with conviction in her voice.

“Yes, I believe you’re right.” They sat in comfortable silence for another while.

Then a mischievous little smile spread on Naminés face. Surprising Xion as she hadn’t ever seen that expression on her friends face before but it wasn’t a bad look on her. “You know you invited me all the way up here to celebrate your new keyblade” she paused meaningfully, “but you haven’t shown it to me yet.” There was a slight accusation in her tone.

Xion blinked. “Oh, you’re right!” She shuffled a bit in her seat a giddy feeling bubbling up inside of her as she held her hand out to summon her new keyblade. The crystalline key materialized in a shower of light.

Next to her Naminé let out light gasp. When Xion looked over there was an expression of awe on her face and Xion felt her chest swell in pride, this only intensifying at Naminés next words. “It is beautiful.” It really was Xion reckoned. The light of the sunset was caught and reflected in the crystal parts of the guard, colouring petals and vines in an array of rainbow colours. “You have to let me paint it!” Naminé turned to her excitedly grasping Xions empty hand with both of hers.

“S-sure, gladly” Xion stuttered out feeling how her cheeks turned hot under Naminés elated gaze. Naminé let go of her hand to reach for her sketch book once more.

“Can I do some sketches right now? Pencil won’t do it justice so I want to try watercolours later” Naminé rambled on turning to a fresh page in her sketch book. A happy smile spread on Xions face at seeing Naminé so enthusiastic.

So Naminé began, pencil dancing over the paper, eyes flitting between the page and the keyblade held aloft in Xions hand. While she drew Naminés tongue was poking between her lips and Xion couldn’t help but note how cute that looked. Xion blinked, surprised at herself and then noticed that her heart was beating rapidly against her ribcage. Any worry she might have felt about the unfamiliar sensation was assuaged once she looked back at Naminé. Whatever it was, it couldn’t be a bad thing.

After a while though, discomfort took over. “Naminé I think my arm is going to fall off, are you finished soon?”

Naminé looked up from her work, concentration broken. “Just a few more lines” she assured hurriedly, before going back to the page that was filled with several sketches of Xions keyblade. Finally she lay down her pencil. “So, finished for now!” Naminé gently clasped her hands together in front of her.

With a relieved sigh Xion let her arm fall and vanished her keyblade then she picked up the abandoned popsicle sticks. “It’s getting late. We better go look and make sure Roxas hasn’t broken his neck from a failed skateboard trick.” She stood up and then extended her hand to Naminé who took it with a smile. Xions heartrate picked up again, as she pulled Naminé to her feet. It didn’t have time to settle down again, as instead of letting go of her hand after she was standing on her own feet, Naminè gave it a gentle squeeze and smiled shyly at Xion. And Xion would be lying if she said she wanted to let go of Naminés hand. It was cool comforting weight in her own.

So the two girls climbed down the stairs of the Clock Tower hand in hand to look for the other two.


	3. Lost Boy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoy the last chapter!

They were currently strolling down one of the many corridors housed inside the Mysterious Tower. Naminé talked about her drawings and Axel asked if she would paint him a picture of the Clock Tower to hang in his room. Meanwhile Roxas was sending meaningful looks to Xion behind Naminés back. Xion had known that her best friend would insist on having a thorough rundown of what happened on top of the Clock Tower after he and Axel had left, from the moment Roxas eyes had widened comically once he saw Xion and Naminé had been holding hands.

But that talk would have to wait for a while longer. In that moment a blurred shadow swept around the corner in front of them. Xion pulled Naminé behind herself and summoned her keyblade, Roxas and Axel next to her doing the same.

Before any of them could attack though, another figure came barrelling around the very same corner. “Don’t destroy it, please!” begged Ventus who sounded thoroughly winded. In his hands he held a squirming mass of blue bodies. Ventus came up behind the shadow that had now manifested as a Flood and scooped it up into his arms next to the others.

“What exactly is going on Ven?” asked Roxas, eyebrow raised in suspicion.

Ventus shrugged sheepishly, or rather did his best approximation, as he was still trying to contain an armful of writhing Floods. “Well Vanitas woke up and these little guys popped up randomly.”

“Why not get rid of them then?” Axel had stepped towards Ventus to examine the Floods closer, even going so far as to poking a finger at one, which led to the small body to jerk away from the touch.

“Cause their not actually attacking anyone” explained Ventus.

Naminé stepped forward. “Do you think I can hold one? You’re arms seem rather full.”

Ventus blinked for a moment then a smile spread on his face. “Sure! Go for it but they might not like it, so be warned.” Naminé nodded and then extended her arms to lift one of the small creatures by the armpits from Ventus grasp. She huddled the small form into her arms and it stayed impressively still only twitching now and then.

Naminé smiled down at it. “It’s so cute.”

Xion stepped forward to peer over Naminés shoulder noticing how the Flood seemingly became more alert, red eyes trained on her. Now and then it twitched. Held like this in Naminés arms it did remind her of a half drowned kitten, but Xion still wouldn’t necessarily call it cute. “Could you help me get these guys back to the room Vanitas is staying at? I don’t want Aqua and Terra to know they’ve been running wild.” Naminé nodded her assent and followed Ventus.

“I’ll come along” called Xion, earning a disgruntled look from Roxas. She just shrugged and mouthed a ‘later’ as she ran past him to follow the two blonds with their wriggly cargo.

“Have you talked to him yet?” Xion couldn’t help but ask once she had caught up to the two.

Ventus made a grimace. “Not quite” he hedged. “When he woke up and saw me, he wouldn’t meet my eye and then the Floods appeared and swept out beneath the door. So I had to go after them before Terra or Aqua could find them, because they certainly wouldn’t be pleased.”

They stopped in front of a door and Ventus shuffled the Floods around in his arms, which seemed to displease them, as they began to twitch harder. After one almost wriggled free, Ventus turned around to Xion. “Could you knock and open the door, please.” Xion nodded smiling and did just that, gesturing for Ventus and Naminé to go in first, before following after and closing the door behind her.

The room was similar to her and everyone else’s sleeping quarters. A bed in the corner, across from it a desk with a shelf above it, and next to it a dresser. On the bed sat the hunched figure of Vanitas. Someone had removed the broken helmet but he was still dressed in that unsettling suit of his. What Xion surprised the most though, were the blood red eyes that bored into them as soon as they entered.

The red eyes slid over them until they caught on the wriggling bodies in Ventus arms. “Why did you bring them back?” spit Vanitas with confusion etched into his face.

“I couldn’t leave them to roam free and let Aqua and Terra find them” explained Ventus. He seemed uncertain whether or not he should put the Floods down now that they were back in Vanitas’ room.

“Why didn’t you just kill them?” Xion thought she saw something like disgust flicker behind Vanitas eyes but it was gone again in a second.

“Well…” Ventus began but stopped to finally let the Floods down, who had already managed to half escape his grasp anyway. They took a few twitchy steps towards Vanitas and then just stopped as if unsure what to do next while Vanitas’ face was mirroring that indecisiveness. “They’re an extension of you and I’m tired of fighting you.”

Vanitas snorted but there was no amusement in it. He shook his head as if disappointed. “You never change do you? Why did you bring those two along?” He glanced at Xion and Naminé quickly before averting his gaze as if he couldn’t stand to look at them any longer than a few seconds.

Naminè stepped forward. Past the Floods on the ground, who moved out of the way but didn’t actually scatter when she came close. She stopped in front of the bed and set the Flood down on the fluffy comforter near Vanitas feet. The little creature twitched its head back and forth between her and Vanitas. “Hello, I’m Naminé.” Her introduction earned her an incredulous look from Vanitas.

Xion decided to take a page out of Naminés book and approached plonking herself down on the end of the bed facing Vanitas. “And I’m Xion, we didn’t really get introduced.” At those words the boy actually flinched and Xions felt a pang of guilt for bringing that up. She certainly hadn’t enjoyed her stay in the new Organization. “My friends and I found you in Neverland” she continued hopeful it would distract from whatever unpleasant memories she had touched upon.

There was a distorted sound and another Unversed sprung free from Vanitas shadow. Naminé didn’t hesitate to scoop that one up into her arms before it could get much further than off the bed. Vanitas just stared at her with a blank face.

In the meantime Ventus had pulled over the desk chair and situated it near the headboard of the bed. “What do you want?” The question was spoken with aggression but Xion thought she could hear an air of resignation through it.

“We want to be here for you” said Ventus with a determined expression.

Vanitas face hardened, brow drawing into an angry expression. “I told you I made my decision! First you leave me all alone and then you think you can tell me what to do?!” Vanitas lashed out. His shadow started to convulse.

“I’m here now!” yelled Ventus against the darkness that was starting to creep up around Vanitas. “Just because we’re separate now doesn’t mean you have to be alone. I don’t want you to feel lonely any longer.”

Vanitas started laughing. However after a moment Xion thought he might actually be sobbing, but she couldn’t tell because of the darkness that obscured parts of Vanitas face. “How?! Don’t you remember what I did to you and your precious friends?! You can keep your pity! I don’t need your forgiveness!”

Xion took a deep breath before she spoke. “This is neither forgiveness nor pity. This is a second chance. Because no one deserves to be alone and in pain!” A tremble had entered her body. She couldn’t help but see herself and Roxas in Vanitas. He had been used by Xehanort to further his goals just like Roxas and her. And just like with them, Xehanort hadn’t given a single damn what kind of atrocities he encountered along the way. “No one asks to be created and thrown into misery, but if someone offers you a helping hand out of that, you have to accept that hand willingly” Xion ended her tirade clenching her teeth.

“We’ve been there” said Naminé gently and Xion could feel her cool hand on her own. “When you’re so alone and you begin to think you deserve it. But the truth is you don’t. Whatever horrendous things you did, because you thought you might as well give the world a reason for abandoning you. They aren’t forgiven, not yet, but there’s the chance for that, along with the chance to stop being so alone. That’s why we’re here.”

The darkness became fainter and now Xion was absolutely sure that Vanitas was crying. His head buried in his knees and arms slung around himself. Ventus got up from his chair and settled down next to Vanitas. He didn’t reach out to hug him, just squeezed close so their shoulders were touching. But even that startled Vanitas into jerking away for a second before establishing the contact once more.

Silence fell, only broken by the scuttling of the Floods. They waited until the sobs subsided and Vanitas spoke up in a small voice. “That might be all well and good for the three of you, but this room doesn’t exist in a vacuum. And the others certainly won’t be so willing.”

“Aqua and Terra will come around” said Ventus with absolute confidence. “It’ll take a while but they will!”

“They’re most likely more upset that you tried to hurt Ventus” Naminé chimed in. “So if he doesn’t hold a grudge they’ll move past theirs.”

“The rest is a cakewalk comparatively.” Xion smiled brightly at Vanitas.

“And we’ll be with you every step of the way” affirmed Ventus.  
Bloodshot eyes looked between them. “I… I don’t know what to say.” Vanitas sounded so small in that moment.

“You don’t have to.” Naminé stretched out her arms with the Flood held in her hands and smiled gently when Vanitas took it from her. It stayed still in his lap for a moment red eyes fixated on Vanitas own before it melted back into him. There was a chorus of scuttling as all the other Floods in the room approached the bed and vanished back into Vanitas’ Shadow. A sigh of relief emitted from him. “They’ve never done that before.” In his voice there rang something almost like awe.

“What happens usually?” asked Xion unable to contain her curiosity in that instance.

Vanitas shrugged. “I kill them.” Xion wasn’t sure if that was really a good way to cope with ones feeling. “But this is nicer. It doesn’t hurt as much.”

“Wait! Defeating the Unversed hurts you?!” spluttered Ventus. He had moved from his relaxed position leaning on the headboard to better look at Vanitas face. Vanitas didn’t answer but the expression on his face apparently was answer enough for Ventus. “I’m placing a strict ban on defeating Unversed from now on.”

“And we’ll help enact it” said Xion determinedly. Inflicting pain on himself, now that really wasn’t healthy! But she would make sure, that Vanitas wouldn’t feel the need to do that to himself in the future. And a quick glance at Naminé confirmed that she would be on board of that as well. Just like Ventus who wore an expression that was a mix of guilt and determination. Little by little they would make sure that Vanitas never again fell into that pit of loneliness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is the last chapter for this particular story. I grouped them together as one because of the very short time that passes between them.  
> Also this is hardly the last installment for the series. I've already gotten another one written and another one in the works. I hope you'll stick around for those as well.


End file.
